High-pitched screeching coming from front wheels and SCREW UHAUL.

[Folken]

Greetings All.

Before I get to my topic, I must say SCREW UHAUL! I have never seen a such disfunctional company stay in business. It's been a pain every single time I've dealt with the company. Believe me, I'm not referring to trailer/truck availability at all, since I understand some of the logistics issues they go through. I've been to 4 different UHAUL centers in the WI area and they are all horrid. My favorite part was when one UHAUL guy tried to get me off the lot and out of his hair when the lights on UHAUL trailer did not light up at all. "Don't worry about it", he says. My favorite part was when he tried to blame it on my vehicle ( a 2001 X Sport ) and I called him on his BS. Being an Electrical Engineer, I grabbed my reliable Fluke multimeter ( a device used to test voltages, resistances, etc ) and proved it right to his face that he didn't have the wiring set up properly in his trailer. Boy, did he turn red in the face! Needless to say, I got a new trailer in 5 minutes.

Anyway, my X Sport question is this: I'm getting a bad and rhytmic screeching sound from the front of the car while I'm driving. It only happens about 25% of the time, but it's worrying me. It worries me since I brought it about 7000 miles ago to the dealer and they claimed I had bad rotors. They replaced them and the sound went away for about 2000-some miles. If I supposedly had bad rotors, then isn't it farfetched to believe that they are bad AGAIN in just 3000 - 7000 miles?

What else could be causing this? I have noticed two oddities on the vehicle which may be of interest: brakes and alignment. The brakes don't always release immeadiately after I left off the brake pedal. I can feel it when the idling motor pulls forward before the brakes fully release. Checked by 2 dealers during their "inspections" and they claim it is OK. The alignment issue comes from some odd wear patterns on my tires and the subsequent god-awful road noise from them. Dealer rotated the tires and they're wearing regularly again. I would have paid for an alignment, but like with many other engineers across the country with hefty school bills and fear of outsourcing, I skipped the service due to money concerns.

Sorry for the long post. This screeching sound is intermitent and annoying. It occurs simply when the tires are rotating, regardless if the brake is applied. Thanks again.

Regards,

Folken

 

[MONMIX]

Hey, welcome to the site !!!!!!!!!!!
What are the conditions of your break pads ?

 

[jjue]

Possible screaching is the brake pads. Does it happen when coasting or driving (foot not on brake pedal) or when the foot is on the brake pedal. Brake pads are not hard to change out since you have disc brakes, and a good set at the auto parts store is about $30-35. If the pads aren't worn yet, then you may simply need to get a $2 tube of synthetic brake lube, and that should quiet things down. The thin aluminum brake hardware sometimes needs a little lubing.

 

[jimbo74]

if they replaced the rotors did they also replace the pads? if they didntit is possible they are glazed as the rotors may also be glazed... pull the wheels and look at the pads, if there is less than 3/32" you should replace them.....

 

[Mbrooks420]

The brakes don't always release immeadiately after I left off the brake pedal

Sticking caliper? I'd pull the wheel and do a visual inspection, and buy a tube of slide pin grease, and lube the calipers.

 

[V8BoatBuilder]

Originally posted by jimabena74
if they replaced the rotors did they also replace the pads? if they didntit is possible they are glazed as the rotors may also be glazed... pull the wheels and look at the pads, if there is less than 3/32" you should replace them.....

Jim - how can you tell if pads/rotors are glazed? My Aunt has a 96 Corolla with plenty of meat on the pads, and very even wear, but it squeels even after I disassembled, cleaned, and regreased the calipers and pad backs.

Sorry to steal your thread Folken - welcome to the site. I suggest removing the wheels and checking for pad thickness and even wear as others have said.

 

[Billy177]

i would get new pads anyway and get a quality set i have had suprisingly(SP) good luck with the jc whitney titanium brake pads put those on and when you are doing it pull out the caliper slide pins and the rubber sleeves, there should be grease on them but in your case there probrally isn't make sure all of the rubber sleeves have no cracks and then clean out all the crap from where the pins go and grease them up heavily with brake grease and you should have quiet brakes again

 

[Billy177]

V8BoatBuilder

she probrally has cheap ass pads on there and that is why they squeel get new quality pads and resurface the rotors